As supporters of Democratic congressional candidate Mary Geren dined on pasta Tuesday night, Bakari Sellers served up plenty of political red meat.

Sellers, a former legislator who is now a CNN contributor, launched a blistering attack on Geren's GOP opponent, U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan. The two men served together in the state General Assembly before Duncan was elected to Congress in 2010 to represent a district that includes part of Greenville and all of Anderson, Oconee and Pickens counties.

“Jeff Duncan has done something that I believe is unforgivable," Sellers told about 100 people who attended the event at the Westside Community Center in Anderson. "You never put your country below your party.

“When Jeff Duncan wakes up in the morning, Jeff Duncan says his Pledge of Allegiance to the Republican Party first and his Pledge of Allegiance to the flag second," Sellers said.

“There is a damning thing about cancer. It spreads, and if you don’t cut it out, it will kill you," Sellers said. "So when you are going to your water coolers and they want to know why do you support Mary Geren, the answer is simple.

“Jeff Duncan has become a cancer. He has become a cancer to this district and a cancer to this country.”

Sellers said voters need “someone who is going to go up and represent us with integrity, principles, character and values.

“When I go to bed at night, I do not have to worry about waking up to Mary Geren embarrassing the great state of South Carolina,” he said.

Geren, an English instructor at Tri-County Technical College, told the audience that she is a “5-foot-nothing mama and teacher who plans to be your next congresswoman.”

Accomplishing that goal will be a formidable challenge in a heavily conservative district. Geren also must overcome Duncan's substantial financial advantage. According to reports filed last month, he has $148,000 in campaign cash on hand compared to about $9,000 for Geren.

Seneca businessman Hosea Cleveland, who lost handily to Duncan in 2016, also is competing against Geren for the Democratic Party nomination. According to his latest report, Cleveland had $55 in campaign cash on hand.

During her speech Tuesday night, Geren said she supports equal pay for equal work, affordable healthcare and affordable higher education. She also voiced support for "dreamers" — the commonly used term to describe children who were brought to the U.S. by parents who are illegal immigrants.

"They have contributed so much to the American fabric," she said.

Geren said she clawed her way out of poverty to graduate from Clemson University with a master's degree.

“I stand here tonight as the embodiment of the American dream. That is a dream that is slipping away from us," she said. "I stand here tonight ready to fight to preserve that dream for other boys and girls like myself who were not born with a silver spoon in their mouths.”

Follow Kirk Brown on Twitter @KirkBrown_AIM and email him at kirk.brown@independentmail.com